Kick Off Fresh 80/20 Business Habits in New Year

Habits are at first cobwebs, then cables.  ~Spanish Proverb

New year bell is ringing, new year resolution is already sizzling up in the air, it takes good habits to make it stick, for individuals, positive habits can shape you to become more healthy and effective; for businesses, it’s also the time to kick off fresh enterprise habits, to amplify collective human capabilities, and to create business synergy. 

1. Business Synergy 

Reality: At the average organization: 80 percent of share of energy that does not create external value, 20 percent of shares of energy is value-creating.

New Habit: Focus on 80% of energy for value-creating activities such as strategy, innovation, & effectiveness and business transformation, 20% of energy is for internal support

2. Business Culture 

Culture is collective thinking in group of people, negative culture will sink business.

New Habit: 80% of thinking need be positive & optimistic, and the other 20% of “Paranoid” thinking is aware of the risks, such new habit can shape the positive business culture and harmonize business. As long as we react positively to the uncertainty, we become more engaged and business productivity will be improved.

3. Business Leadership 

The spirit of organization comes from top, leadership is about influence.

New Habit: 80% of leadership team have cognitive difference; complement each other’s strength, skill set, leadership substance and style;

4. Business Strategy 

Strategy is a set of choices being made, following a series of action for business to compete for the future.

New Habit: 80% of strategy need be shareware, not shelf-ware, need be brainstormed through collective insight cross enterprise, to embrace 3 “C”s: Creativity, Cascading and Context.

5. Project Management 

Project Managers know that 20 percent of the work (the first 10 percent and the last 10 percent) consume 80 percent of their time and resources.

        

New Habit: You can't commit until you have high level of confidence in making the outcome appear. The proposal should have an 80% confidence of completing on value delivery,  "on or before at date" and "at or under budget."

6 Business Process Management 

Process: Pareto rule applies; you will get 80% of process improvement benefits from 20% of your business processes

New Habit: Focus on the 20% of processes most critical for businesses, expand process management horizon, not just for automation, but also for process innovation and optimization.

7. IT Budget Management 

Reality: 80 percent of IT budget goes for “keep the light on” maintenance, only 20 percent of budget is invested in the project for business’s growth or innovation

New Habit: 80 percent of IT budget should be invested in the projects for business’s growth or innovation; only 20 percent of budget goes to infrastructure maintenance 

8. Customer Relationship Management 

Pareto rule applied: 20 percent of Customers generate 80% of business revenue.

New Habit: Understand your loyal customers deeper through data analytics, continue to optimize customer life-cycle experience through digitalization, and focus on bright spots to enable business growth.

9. Quality Assurance 

Pareto Rule applied: 20 percent of the defects cause 80 percent of the problems.

New Habit: Not every bug is created equal, promote agile methodology and mindset, and keep business ends in mind, in order to improve product/project quality and customer satisfaction.

10. Talent Time Management 

Pareto Principle for a manager is that it reminds you to focus on the 20 percent of the things you do during your day, only 20 percent really matter.     

New Habit: The good habit is always related to time management, keep focus, stay hungry, make priority list, spend majority (80%) of time and energy on things matter.

"Vital few and trivial many"-- The 80/20 Rule means that in anything a few (20 percent) are vital and many (80 percent) are trivial. May your new enterprise habits energize, synergize and catalyze a business transformation in upcoming new year.

“Sow a thought, and you reap an act; Sow an act, and you reap a habit; Sow a habit, and you reap a character; Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.”  ― Samuel Smiles

Posted in: Change Management,Food for Thought,Future of Leadership